Kenya opens nine-nation search for foreign investors
Kenya is using the investment summit series to enhance Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows that have been lagging behind other East African countries such as Uganda and Rwanda.
What you need to know:
London, the UK capital that is hosting this year’s Olympics, is the venue of the first road show to be held later this month.
Kenya is using the investment summit series to enhance Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows that have been lagging behind other East African countries such as Uganda and Rwanda.
Kenya plans to showcase selected Vision 2030 flagship projects at the one-day summit and to discuss Kenya’s business and investment climate with participants.
Kenya is stepping up its search for international investors with nine investment summits to be held in the world’s major financial capitals in the next 12 months.
London, the UK capital that is hosting this year’s Olympics, is the venue of the first road show to be held later this month.
“The initiative is part of a targeted investment promotion approach that involves identifying global centres with investors who match our national development plans,” said Julius Korir, the acting managing director of Kenya Investment Authority (KIA).
Kenya is using the investment summit series to enhance Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows that have been lagging behind other East African countries such as Uganda and Rwanda.
President Kibaki is expected to launch the investor charm offensive at an Olympics–linked investment expo in London later this month.
Kenya is taking advantage of the London Olympic Games to stage an investment expo on July 31.
“We want to exploit the great attention Kenyan athletes attract at such events to raise Kenya’s investment profile,” said Mugo Kibati, the director-general of the Vision 2030 delivery secretariat.
Kenya plans to showcase selected Vision 2030 flagship projects at the one-day summit and to discuss Kenya’s business and investment climate with participants.
The investor fair has been organised by the government in conjunction with the Commonwealth Business Council and will take place at Mansion House, the official residence of the Mayor of London.
The team of Kenyan promoters plans to engage potential investors in in-depth round table discussions on business opportunities in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, ICT, housing and urban development.
The expo comes at a time when China, South Africa, India and South Korea have emerged as key sources of global investment flows – pushing out Kenya’s traditional business partners such as the UK, US, Germany and Italy.
FDI flows to Kenya have grown from an average of Sh253 billion ($3 billion) at the end of the millennium to Sh274 billion ($3.25 billion) in 2008.
Kenya hopes to use the summit to rope investors into ongoing projects such as the building a new terminal at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, development of a commuter railway network in Nairobi, build the tech-city at Konza, and a new port in Lamu.
“The Games provide a fitting backdrop for Kenya to showcase its economic and investment priorities,” said Sir Alan Collins, the director general of the Commonwealth Business Council.
Kenya also plans to market its tourist destinations and display her unique culture, art and other endowments at Kenya House that will be open for a whole month near the Olympic Park.
In September, Kenya will be heading East in search of investors in Japan, China and South Korea – an affirmation of the Kibaki driven shift to Asian Tigers as the favourite source of investment, financing, export and tourist.
The government has identified six sectors including manufacturing, agriculture and agro-processing, tourism, business process outsourcing (BPO), finance, wholesale and retail as the key drivers of growth in the next two decades under the Vision 2030 development blueprint.
The plan also points to the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Japan, China and South Korea as the countries that constitute Kenya’s key development financiers. KIA has evaluated the technical strength of each partner and matched it to Kenya’s needs.
The analysis has, for instance, identified the Asian economic powerhouses as strong in technological innovation and infrastructure development giving making them the first port of call for such projects.
The overseas investment promotion forums are being backed by legal and policy framework reviews aimed at improving Kenya’s business climate and make it appealing to foreign executives.
Kenya has simplified a total of 379 licences, abolished 315 others and retained 294, according to the Business Regulatory Reform Unit (BRRU) set up in 2006 to restructure the licensing regime.
In the next two months, Kenya plans to set up one-stop shop where international investors can deal with a single entity to obtain all documentation in a streamlined and coordinated process.
The idea is to link the investment promotion agency to all players involved in setting up businesses such as the Kenya Revenue Authority, State Law Office, Immigration department and local authorities to ensure effective and efficient facilitation of investors.
“We have set up a one-stop portal where investors can lodge applications online,” said Mr Korir.
The online platform was launched in November last year and piloted in the first half of the year before going live at the beginning of this month.
The authority aims to link the e-portal with online and mobile money payment solutions to remove the difficulties that come with cash or cheque payments.
